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Enkrateia ( Greek , "in power - from ἐν (en, “in”) + κράτος (krátos, “power”). ''Enkrateia'' comes from the adjective ''enkratês'' (ἐγκρατής from ἐν (en, “in”) which means possession, power over something or someone else + κράτος (krátos, “power”)). It results in the meaning of power over yourself, power over your own passions and instincts, self-control and self-mastery.
During Socrates' life three of his disciples,
Enkrateia ( Greek , "in power - from ἐν (en, “in”) + κράτος (krátos, “power”). ''Enkrateia'' comes from the adjective ''enkratês'' (ἐγκρατής from ἐν (en, “in”) which means possession, power over something or someone else + κράτος (krátos, “power”)). It results in the meaning of power over yourself, power over your own passions and instincts, self-control and self-mastery.
During Socrates' life three of his disciples, Isocrates
Isocrates (; grc, Ἰσοκράτης ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education throu ...
, Xenophon and Plato, transformed the adjective ''enkratês'' to the noun ''enkrateia'' and gave it a different meaning: with them, ''enkrateia'' meant not power over something or someone else but power over yourself, power over your own passions and instincts, self-control.
For Aristotle, ''enkrateia'' is the antonym of '' akrasia'' (ἀκρασία from ἀ = without + κράτος = power, control) which means "lacking command (over oneself)". In this sense, ''enkrateia'' is the state of performing what is known to be a positive choice because of its positive consequences as opposed to ''akrasia'', which is the state of performing what is known to be not a positive choice (because of its negative consequences), but nevertheless performing it because of its immediate pleasures.
To Xenophon, ''enkrateia'' is not a particular virtue but "the foundation of all virtues".
Enkrateia is mentioned thrice in the New Testament, in the lists of virtues in Acts 24:25, Galatians 5:23, and 2 Peter 1:6. The King James Version renders the word " Temperance (virtue)."Strong's Concordance, Word no. 1466, https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_1466.htm
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